


Rainbow King

by WillowTea



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Nico is gay, Percy is a Dork, Pride, Short, Will is bi, pride month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 04:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11154474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowTea/pseuds/WillowTea
Summary: Will takes Nico to his first pride parade.





	Rainbow King

**Author's Note:**

> Rainbow King is supposed to be reference to ghost king. Also, this was shorter than I intended it to be, but it's short and sweet and to the point, so I hope you enjoy.

The streets were packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder. Many held onto each other via hand or shoulder, clinging tightly so they didn’t get dragged away by the crowd. People pressed inward, toward the street where streamers fluttered and confetti fell. It was extremely difficult to see anything over the heads of all the people and the small teen found it really difficult to enjoy himself with so many people.

“C’mon, can’t we just go back to camp?” Nico asked, feeling himself get jarred in the shoulder by the five billionth person that day. He flinched away, pressing closer to the taller boy beside him, his warmth welcoming against the heat of the crowd. Bright blue eyes turned downward and the unfairly attractive teen creased his brows.

“Why? I thought you wanted to come?” Will asked, his thick lashes fluttering in the gentle breeze that blew across the street. Nico moaned, a sound that meant he didn’t know what he wanted, but that he definitely regretted choosing this. Will lifted and eyebrow, coercing a real answer from Nico.

“I did, Will. But this wasn’t what I expected.” Nico responded, watching the ever moving mass of people ahead of him and beside him change shape and color. It was a sea of all the brightest colors Nico had ever seen. Never before had the son of Hades expected to be so willing to step into such a throng of color, but Will had managed to convince him to come.

“I told you it would be packed.” Will pointed out, squeezing Nico’s hand reassuringly as he said this. Almost instinctively, Nico squeezed back, feeling more comfort in that one gesture than he had ever felt before. Except when Bianca had been alive, Nico had never felt more at home. He missed her, but he was glad he had Will with him.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you meant wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder, back to front.” Nico’s voice cracked as someone passed behind him, a hip brushing his butt and nudging him forward. Will steadied him by the shoulder with his other hand before turning to look behind Nico. There was no point looking for whoever had nudged him, they were long gone somewhere in the crowd. 

“Sorry, Nico. People are just proud to be who they are and are more willing to show it when a huge group is gathered in their honor.” Will replied, shrugging indifferently. His expression was the complete opposite of indifference, but showed great care and concern Nico knew was directed at him. 

The smaller boy groaned again, this time directing his gaze away from his boyfriend and toward his feet where he watched his black converse shuffle against the confetti littered pavement. It was so disgustingly colorful it made Nico want to be sick, but he knew better than to say anything. He was proud of who he was, it had taken him a long time to get there. He was proud he had figured it out, proud everyone knew, and proud he now had a really attractive boyfriend who seemed to genuinely care about him. 

Another person bumped up against him from behind and Nico whipped around, finally done with the people nudging him and pushing him and shoving him. Instead of finding a complete stranger, like he had expected, he instead found a few familiar faces.

“Hey, Nico! Thought we’d drop in. I’ve always wanted to go to one of these things.” Percy smirked with the same, hypnotizing grin he had always worn when around friends. A year ago, Nico would have nearly melted under that grin, but now he was glad to say he was over Percy Jackson, but thrilled they remained friends. 

“You could have at least said hi before bumping me.” Nico grumbled, grabbing absently for Will’s hand once more when his boyfriend realized he had turned around. Warmth met his hand and he grasped tightly, making sure not to let go again.

“Hey, guys! It’s great to see you here!” Will exclaimed, ever happy to see their friends. Percy grinned back, his arm around Annabeth’s shoulders, stroking the blonde hair she had pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a white shirt with some kind of fancy script on it that Nico couldn’t even begin to read and a pair of plain blue shorts. Percy was sporting a bright blue t-shirt and cargo shorts to match, but he was wearing a hideous pair of rainbow socks. 

“What are you wearing?” Nico asked, looking down at these socks with disgust as he said this. Percy made a face, looking down at his socks and then back up at Nico, offended that Nico would ask such a question.

“I’m wearing some pride! What are you wearing?” Percy asked, gesturing vaguely toward Nico with his free hand. Nico looked down at his own outfit and shrugged. Despite the intense summer heat and the heat of the crowd, Nico remained in his usual black shirt with black jeans, but he had exchanged his combat boots for black converse. The biggest difference, though, was the skull on his shirt. Instead of being solid white, it had been filled in with the rainbow, a disgusting edition of his usually favorite symbol, but something he forgave for the occasion.

Plus, Will had found it for him.

“What I usually wear.” Nico responded, raising an eyebrow when Percy rolled his eyes. It was always a surprise to see Percy, since he almost never seemed to stay in one place for long. He and Annabeth were working hard on getting into the real world and transitioning from life at camp to life on their own. It had been a rather difficult process, since monsters still hunted them down. Percy especially, since he was a son of Poseidon. 

“Right, well, Annabeth and I were going to find where we can grab some food. You guys want to tag along?” Percy asked, swaying absently from side to side and making Annabeth rock with him. Most demigods had ADHD, but something about Percy’s ADHD had always struck Nico as more ADHD than any other demigod he had met. Perhaps it was everything Percy had gone through, perhaps it was just Percy. Either way, he was really jumpy. 

“That would be great, we’ve been meaning to get out of this crowd.” Will surprised Nico by responding for him, tugging at his hand when Percy waved them in a direction away from the crowd. Nico warily followed as they pushed through the thick crowd and people filled in behind them. 

The further away they got from the street, the thinner the crowd got. As they turned a corner away from the main event, they found the streets were practically deserted. The parade has started hours ago, but there was still more coming and even more events afterward. Nico had agreed to come for a little bit of the parade, but he and Will had ended up staying longer than intended. Still, it wasn’t as bad as he made it seem. At least he had Will with him.

Percy lead them into a small shop that looked just like all the others. As soon as they were inside, Nico realized it was bigger than he expected, and nearly jumped out of his skin at the shouts that greeted them.

“What did you do?! Invite the entire camp?!” Nico shouted, forcing himself to be heard over the exclamations from the entire camp. They all wore varying different pride shirts and colors, a few representative of their own identities and orientations, a few just in support of those around them. Will gave Nico a small kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the crowd and leaving him with Percy.

“Yeah, pretty much. Some of them couldn’t make it and a few were wary of the whole monsters thing, but we have Chiron in here somewhere. And, of course, we wouldn’t leave camp without weapons.” Percy explained, practically yelling above the noise as people waved at Nico, most avoiding touching him or crowding him. Nico turned to where Percy had pointed and found that Chiron was, indeed, there.

He sat in a wheelchair, his usual mode of concealment, with Percy’s mom and step-father, several other campers chatting with them. Laughter echoed throughout the tiny shop and smells wafted around that made Nico’s stomach growl. As Percy lead him to an empty table, the son of Hades noticed that every camper had a weapon of some sort hidden under the tables, just in case a mortal came in. 

Nico found it hard to believe any mortal would willingly walk into this place, as packed as it was with loud teenagers. 

“Here ya go, eat anything you want, it’s on my mom.” Percy offered, gesturing to an empty seat near a few familiar faces. Sliding into the chair he looked around at the large group of people gathered to celebrate pride month with him and Will. So many campers, so many different orientations. It was amazing and beautiful, but Nico would never admit this out loud.

“I can’t believe Percy got so many people to come!” Will shouted as he slid into the chair beside Nico, practically slamming into his small boyfriend.

“Yeah.” Nico muttered, looking down at the table. Will said something but it seemed to escape Nico entirely and the conversation progressed with someone else nearby. This continued for almost two hours as food came and went, Nico ate a bit, and the chatter slowly died as people left to either participate in the rest of the pride or go back to camp. No monsters attacked the small shop, which was a miracle all on its own.

After what felt like days, Will nudged Nico’s shoulder and looked into his eyes.

“You ready to go? They’re going to do fireworks soon.” Will offered, earning a small nod from Nico. They said goodbye to friends as they exited and wandered down the streets. The main road was like a ghost town compared to two hours ago, the lights fading fast in a pinkish sunset. As they headed closer to the shore, they found more people gathering and walking around. Will slowed his pace and turned toward the sunset, laughing suddenly enough that Nico jumped.

“What?” Nico asked, sounding more irritated than he actually was. Which he wasn’t. Will was too endearing to irritate him for real. Will turned to look at Nico and then gestured toward the sunset.

“The sky’s gay, Nico.” Will laughed, pointing to the beautiful array of colors. Nico creased his brow and looked at the different colors lining the sky, almost perfectly divided into different sections.

“Will, it’s upside down.” Nico pointed out, realizing that Will was right, the sky was wearing the gay flag. The only thing was that it was upside down, the darker purple at the top of the sky and the bright red near the horizon. Will scoffed and pushed Nico with a nudge to the shoulder, pressing them toward the shore further, resuming their walk.

“It can do it however it wants, Nico.” Will insisted, rolling his eyes and laughing lightly. Nico couldn’t help but roll his eyes as well, finding this argument endearing enough to be dropped. Will was right, though, despite the upside down nature of the colors, the sky sported a rather accurate gay flag.

It only took a few minutes for them to find the crowd of people gathered near the shore, where the fireworks would be presented. The wall of people was so thick that there was no way they would possibly be able to get through.

“We’re going to have to stay here.” Nico muttered, sounding disappointed but feeling silently thrilled that they didn’t have to deal with all the people again. Will looked a bit disappointed, but agree and turned toward a small picnic table that was sitting on the sidewalk. They both scooted onto the table top and grabbed hands, watching the sun disappear behind the horizon and sirens and music start up somewhere near the shore.

People began to cheer, noise began to sound, and the fireworks show began.

It was beautiful, the only time Nico truly appreciated bright colors. Will scooted closer, their hips pressed tightly against each other, hands clasped firmly as if they wanted to never let go. Nico wanted this moment to last forever, but knew it wasn’t going to. 

“I’m glad you came, Nico.” Will whispered, his voice almost inaudible over the cheers and chatter of the crowd. Nico grunted lightly, an acknowledgment of Will’s words. 

Slowly, Will’s fingers squeezed Nico’s tighter, his tan fingers turning a white that compared to Nico’s pale complexion. Nico squeezed back, proud to have a boyfriend as amazing as Will and glad to have lived the life he had lived, ready to live it further. Hopefully with Will at his side.

“Happy Pride month, Rainbow King.” Will whispered, turning his face toward Nico and giving him a small peck on the cheek. Nico leaned into it and slide his face closer to Will’s so their lips locked and they kissed on the table by the shore, the fireworks illuminating their faces. They pulled away and Nico smiled into Will’s eyes.

“Happy Pride month, Sunshine.” Nico whispered back, letting Will kiss him again until they were the same person and the world extended beyond the gay sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, come again!
> 
> [Fandom Blog](http://lovers-be-nerds.tumblr.com/)  
> [Art Blog](http://willow-tea.tumblr.com/)


End file.
